1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to surgical instruments and procedures, and more particularly to surgical instruments for manipulating various tissue and organ structures such as cranial, uterine, pelvic and abdominal structures during the course of a surgical procedure. More particularly, the invention relates to surgical instruments and procedures for manipulating such organ and tissue structures from a position remote from the organ or tissue structure to be manipulated.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oftentimes during the course of a surgical procedure involving the cranial, uterine, pelvic or abdominal cavities of a patient, the need arises to manipulate various tissue and organ structures in order to better visualize the surgical field, separate adhering tissues, and displace healthy tissue from tissue to be treated incident to the surgical procedure. The need and demand for remotely controllable tissue and organ manipulating devices has increase significantly since the advent of remotely controllable fiber optic imaging systems. Surgical procedures such as exploratory knee surgery and certain gynecological procedures which only a few years ago had required relatively large incisions to be made into the respective portions of a patient's knee or abdomen now can be performed by relatively simple, remotely manipulable surgical implements which can be inserted in relatively small surgical incisions formed in the body of a patient, thereby reducing trauma to the patient and greatly diminishing patient recovery time. In view of the success that has been obtained from such surgical procedures, physicians have been anxious to expand these techniques into other types of surgical and diagnostic procedures. However, prior to the development of the subject invention, their efforts have been frustrated. For example, it would be advantageous to be able to collect tissue and/or fluid samples from remote, interior portions of the body without having to subject the patient to general anesthesia incident to conventional surgical procedures and the complications that can arise therefrom. It would further be advantageous to have a single, multifunctional manipulating instrument readily adaptable for use with a variety of different surgical implements for tissue piercing, sample collection, grasping, and manipulation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a universal, multi-purpose surgical instrument for remotely manipulating various internal structures such as cranial, uterine, pelvic and abdominal structures.
Another object of the subject invention is to provide a surgical instrument for remotely manipulating cranial, uterine, pelvic and abdominal structures during surgical procedures such as laparoscopy, hysterosalpingography, hysteroscopy, hysterectomy, endometrial tissue destruction, removal of myomas, correction of dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB), and other known procedures typically performed by conventional surgical techniques.
Yet a further object of the subject invention is to provide a surgical instrument for remotely manipulating cranial, uterine, pelvic and abdominal structures that permits for the use of accessory devices such as plug devices and tissue-collecting sponges.
Yet a further object of the subject invention is to provide a remotely operable surgical instrument for manipulating cranial, uterine, pelvic and abdominal structures that provides for the insertion of a variety of different surgical devices of varying size through a passage defined by the surgical instrument.
Yet still a further object of the subject invention is to provide a surgical instrument for manipulating cranial, uterine, pelvic and abdominal structures that is easy to use and manipulate, interchangeable with other devices, of uncomplicated construction, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.